GRTC Pulse

GRTC BRT Line
Overview
System	Greater Richmond Transit Company
Status	Planning
Predecessors	Richmond Union Passenger Railway GRTC Line 6
Route
Locale	Richmond, Virginia
Start	Willow Lawn
End	Rockett's Landing
Stations	15
Service
Daily ridership	est. 3,300

GRTC Pulse Planned Route

Legend In Henrico County: Willow Lawn planned 2018 In Richmond on Broad Street: Staples Mill US 33 Cleveland planned 2018 I‑195 Robinson planned 2018 Allison planned 2018 Shafer planned 2018 US 301 Adams Street planned 2018 4th or 5th Street planned 2018 6th Street planned 2018 9th Street planned 2018 12th Street planned 2018 On Main Street: Main Street Station I‑95 25th Street planned 2018 Route 5 planned 2018 Rocketts Landing planned 2018

The GRTC Pulse (often abbreviated as The Pulse) is a planned bus rapid transit line in Richmond, Virginia. The line will be along Broad Street and Main Street starting at The Shops at Willow Lawn, and will go down to Rockett's Landing. Once the service opens, it will be the third bus rapid transit service to open in Virginia, and the first rapid mass transit service to service Richmond since 1949.

History

Richmond Union Passenger Railway was Richmond, Virginia's first notable mass transit system.

Before, the bus rapid transit, the city's fulcrum of transit was served by conventional buses run by the Greater Richmond Transit Company. Bus service in the city began on February 1, 1923 and became the main mode of public transportation through the city in 1949. From 1888 until 1949, the city was also served by streetcars via the Richmond Union Passenger Railway from 1888 to 1949.^[1]

Original plans for rapid transit in Richmond originated as early as the 1990s, with case studies for light rail and bus rapid transit being studied by the City of Richmond. In 2003, Richmond's Department of Transportation conducted a two-year feasibility study on commuter and light rail in the Greater Richmond Region. The studies found that the lines would be moderately successful, but population in Richmond was not dense enough to demand either said service. Since the studies, other independent groups have begun their own series of studies given Richmond's higher than expected population growth and the region's expected population growth.

In 2010, formal studies began to test the feasibility of a bus rapid transit line, rather than light rail line. The decision to pursue BRT rather than LRT prompted mostly negative reactions from the community, who primarily preferred light rail over bus rapid transit.^[2] The Greater Richmond Transit Company has remained open about upgrade the Pulse's initial line to a light rail line in the foreseeable future, should ridership dictate capacity beyond that a BRT system. Feasibility studies, stakeholder analysis, alternative assessments, and environmental impact studies, research was complete in mid-2014.

In late 2014, GRTC unveiled the first set of bus rapid transit plans, which involved several stations stretching from Willow Lawn down to Rocketts Landing. The Main Street Station would serve as the central transportation hub for the Pulse, linking the line with Amtrak, Transdominion Express, Megabus and Central Virginia Express.

On March 17, 2015, GRTC announced that the line would be called the Pulse.^[3]

The project team is currently working in the Preliminary Engineering Phase which will be completed by July 31, 2015. The team is also working to contract with a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) construction firm who will work hand-in-hand with architectural designers to finalize the design of the project. That project delivery method will allow GRTC to begin early construction commitments by June 2016, approximately three to four months prior to design completion. Construction will last until August 2017. Between September 2017 and October 2017, BRT operations will be tested and accepted. Final BRT operations will begin by October 2017.

The project has an estimated construction cost of $53 million to provide service from Willow Lawn in the west to Rocketts Landing in the east, including fourteen stations and over three miles of dedicated travel lanes. Half of the final design and construction costs come from the federal TIGER grant ($24.9 Million). The other half come in the form of a 50% match funded by both state and local sources. The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) will provide 34% ($16.9 Million) with the remaining 16% provided by the City of Richmond ($7.6 Million) and Henrico County ($400,000). Operation of the service is estimated to cost $2.7 million per year. Some of the operating cost would be covered by fares and the remainder to be provided annually from yet to be determined local funding sources.^[4]

Route

The Pulse contains a layout in which the high-speed buses travel along U.S. Route 250 (Broad Street) before transferring to Main Street downtown. The initial Pulse line will link suburban Willow Lawn to Rocketts Landing, both in suburban Henrico with at least a dozen planned stations within the city limits of Richmond. During peak hours, buses will come to each station every 10 minutes, with off-peak visitations every 15 minutes.

List of stations

• Willow Lawn
• Staples Mill
• Cleveland
• Robinson
• Allison
• Shafer
• Adams
• 4th/5th Street
• 9th Street
• 12th Street
• Main Street Station
• 24th Street
• Route 5
• Rocketts Landing

Schedule

The official schedule has yet to be finalized by GRTC, but it has been confirmed that Pulse buses will run every 10 minutes during peak hours, and 15 minutes during non-peak hours, which is far more frequent than regular GRTC buses that run every 30-60 minutes.

Connections

GRTC Pulse stations will connect to numerous GRTC bus routes, as well as to the Richmond Main Street Station, which will allow for direct access to Amtrak Northeast Regional train service, and Megabus regional bus service. The Robinson station will offer walking distance to the Richmond Greyhound bus terminal. Additionally, the Staples Mill station will have connecting bus shuttle service to the Henrico County Government Center and the Staples Mill railway station, which will allow for direct access to Amtrak's Carolinian, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Silver Meteor and Silver Star train lines.

See also

• Metroway, a bus rapid transit system in Arlington and Alexandria
• VB Wave, a bus rapid transit system in Virginia Beach

References

1. IEEE Richmond Section (February 1992). "Milestones:Richmond Union Passenger Railway, 1888". IEEE Global History Network. IEEE. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
2. Ned, Oliver. "At Least They Didn't Call it Blynk". Style Weekley. StyleWeekly.com. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
3. Moomaw, Graham (March 17, 2015). "Richmond bus rapid transit system named GRTC Pulse". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond.com. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
4. http://www.ridegrtc.com/brt/study-history

External links

• Map of Proposed Route
• GRTC BRT Transit Page